1 - Flow of Migrant Workers from Indonesia to Asia

Many migrant workers from Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries have been sent out to other countries in Asia and elsewhere. This presentation will give an overview of the flow of sending out such workers and introduce the Japanese system, which is different from other countries.

Before arriving to host countries to work in factories, reproductive labor, migrants receive training at an institution called LPK. The training includes learning the language of the host country and, in the case of reproductive labor, housework skills such as cooking and caring for the elderly. The required standards for language acquisition vary from host country to host country, and in recent years, Taiwan no longer requires any language level.

On the other hand, Japan accepts foreigners as "technical intern trainees" rather than "workers”. Furthermore, starting in 2018, a new framework called "specified skilled workers" has been established, in which there are no restrictions on the length of stay and family accompaniment is permitted.
These peculiarities and complexities of accepting "workers" in Japan raise the bar for Japan as a country of stay, but also create a tighter loop of "migrant labor" that continues to send experienced workers to Japan.